Kingdon Hearts II
by Galea
Summary: Yay! Chapter 3! ;) Sneak Peak: However, Sora was too distracted and did not avoid the hit of another Heartless...
1. Fantastically Good

_Disclaimer_:  I do not own anything related to this story.  I am gaining nothing from the creation of this fic. *pouts* As unfair as it is.

_Author's Comments_:  Hi everyone, and welcome to my very first Kingdom Hearts fic!  Do not expect anything great in this first chapter, I need it to anchor off my plot line, which will be shocking and full of suspense!  At least, that's what I'm planning, who knows, it could flop…Hah.  Anyways, please enjoy, and remember to review!

Kingdom Hearts II

**Chapter 1 – Fantastically Good**

_Sora…_

The voice was more persistent now that Sora was standing on the white sand of the beach.  Salty sea air, an all-too familiar smell when living on an island, surrounded him as he stood on the shore, searching out the source of the mysterious voice.

Shielding his eyes from the glaring sun, he saw that his friend, Riku, was standing out in the middle of the shallow water.

"Riku!" Sora called, waving madly and grinning.

Riku turned around to face Sora, and at the same time, an enormous wave formed behind him and began crashing towards shore.

"Sora," Riku replied, holding out his hand.  "Take my hand!"  Riku was shouting now over the roaring noise of the huge wave.

Stretching out his arm, Sora reached out and tried to grab Riku's hand.  But he was being held back by some invisible force…Straining against it, he just barely managed to touch Riku's fingertips when the giant wave crashed over them.

"Sora!"

~*~*~

"No!" Sora heard himself shout.  It took him a few minutes to realize that he was not surrounded by the salty water off the coast of his homeland, Destiny Islands.

"Sora?" a voice asked.  It belonged to one of Sora's companions, Goofy, who was peering at him, concern written all over his comical face.  "Gawrsh Sora, are you alright?"

"Fine," Sora mumbled.  He looked around their small, tree surrounded campsite.  His gaze lingered on the sleeping form of Donald, and he smiled as Donald emitted a huge, earth rumbling snore.

"I can stand watch now Goofy," Sora announced, getting to his feet and stretching.

"It's okay Sora, you should probably get some sleep, you haven't been getting much lately, what with all the nightmares you've been having…" Goofy trailed off when he saw the pained look on Sora's face.

"Riku has been calling to me," Sora admitted.  He went and sat down next to Goofy.  "Ever since we closed the door, he has been calling to me.  He wants to be free, and I can't help him anymore then I can help your King."

"We'll find them both," Goofy said with a smile.  "King Mickey relies on the three of us for good reason…he knows that we'll get to them, and I think so too."  

"I guess so," Sora replied sullenly.  He forced a grin and made sure Goofy saw that he was 'smiling."

"Besides," Goofy continued, looking to cheer Sora up, "you'll get to see Kairi again tomorrow."

This time, Sora's smile was genuine.  After traveling for a year, he would finally get to see her again.  He hadn't stopped thinking about her, ever since the day where he had sealed Kingdom Hearts.  Barely unable to contain his joy, he settled on smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.

All they needed now was boat to get them to the small island.  

"Uh, how are we going to get to the island?" Sora asked.

"Gawrsh, I don't know Sora," Goofy said.  Sora's smile drooped a little.  "But I'm sure we can find someone who will help us in town."

"I-," Sora was interrupted by Donald, waking up and yelling angrily.

"Will you two be quiet!? Some of us are trying to get some sleep!"  With that, he slumped back down and was asleep two seconds later.

~*~*~

Sora woke up late the next morning.  So late, in fact, that Donald was just about to empty a bucket of water on Sora's head.  Thankfully, the youth managed to get up just in time.

After eating a quick breakfast, the three companions set off to the nearby town, in search of a boat.  Following the salty smell in the air had led them to the docks, and they began their search for craft to transport them to Destiny Islands.

"So, how exactly are we going to afford this boat?" Sora asked.  He stretched out a kink in his shoulder and crossed his arms up behind his head.

"How about we borrow one instead?" Donald asked.  He was pointing over to a sign near the dock that proclaimed they could rent a boat.

"Yeah!" Sora cheered.  The three of them ran over to a smaller boat and looked it over.

"This one'll do," Goofy announced, satisfied with the condition of the boat.

"That one will cost you 500 munny for the day," boomed a voice from behind them.  It was so menacing, that Sora almost conjured the Keyblade, but decided against that idea.

The three of them turned to find themselves faced with a very large, muscular man, smoking a pipe.

"For one boat?" Donald exclaimed.

"Sure, and I'll let you have it for the while day," the man answered.  He rolled the pipe stem around in his teeth.  "You can have an extra oar too, since there are three of you."

Donald was about to reply, but Sora jumped in front of him.  "We'll take it!" he cried, handing over the munny.

Still grumbling about the bad deal, Donald resisted the urge to whack Sora with his staff and go into the boat.  The boat actually wasn't very bad; it was not as tipsy as Donald expected and he was delighted to see that there was already food packed in it.

"Off we go!" Sora shouted as he started the boat.  The motor made a loud noise, and then hummed to life.  Jamming the controls forward, he propelled the boat forward, out of the dock area and into the vast, open ocean.

~*~*~

After a few hours, the island appeared on the island.  The sun had just started to descend from its highest point in the sky, and the lower it got, the closer they got to the island.

"_And the closer I am to seeing Kairi_," Sora thought.  He smiled, despite himself.  It was too good to be true, after searching for what seemed like the longest time.  At times he could still hear her voice, spoken to him from a far off place…Although, he hadn't heard it lately...

"There's the island!" Donald cried, jumping up and down.  This stopped when they hit a small wave and water splashed the duck.  Shaking his feathers dry, he glared at the ocean and muttered something angrily.

As they got closer, Sora could make out the dock where he knew his old boat was tied up.  Along with Kairi's, and Riku's.  The last thought made Sora twinge with inner pain.  He would find a way to free his friend and the King…

Landing on the island proved easy.  There was plenty of space to tie up the boat and the fine white sand helped to hold it steady as Sora and his friends got out.

Sora ran up the familiar path, not even pausing to reminisce.  Turning a corner, he didn't even check to see that Goofy and Donald were behind him.  Climbing up a ladder, he didn't even both to knock as the door as he strode into Kairi's house.

"Kairi?" he called.  Running to check all the rooms, he found the kitchen and sitting room empty.  "Kairi, where are you?"

Slightly worried now, he went to the last room, Kairi's room.

Upon entering, he noticed that it was a mess.  Clothes were everywhere, drawers were open and the chair in the corner was upturned.  

Sora took a few slow steps around the room, taking everything in and trying to think logically.  It was then that he noticed the envelope, addressed to him, sitting on her dresser.  Grabbing it, he was about to open it when suddenly, he was hit with an immense amount of pain.

Clutching his heart, he fell to his knees, the envelope still clutched in his fingers.  He knew what the pain meant; something was wrong with Kairi.  The pain worsened, and he cried out loud as he started to lose consciousness.

As he began the familiar fall into oblivion, he couldn't help but think, "This was all too good to be true."


	2. Lingering Voice

_Disclaimer_:  See the first chapter.

_Author's Notes_:  So, I started a new Kingdom Hearts file today.   All I can say is that now I am feeling very inspired…I was thinking about the Deep Dive video and I hope that all my ideas work into the story.  A big thanks to everyone who reviewed as well:

Zero the Experiment, Chris the Anime Guy, juzlovnsora, Nessiegirl & Pixel.

Enjoy!

Kingdom Hearts II

**Chapter 2 – Lingering Voice**

"Help me Sora, please!"

"I'm coming Kairi," Sora cried.  Swinging the Keyblade in wide arcs, he disposed of several Heartless with every sweep of the unique weapon.  With every few swings, he managed to take a few more steps towards Kairi.

He could see her, surrounded by Heartless.  Yet, no matter how hard he fought, he couldn't reach her.  With every step he took, the distance between them seemed to increase.  Concentrating harder, his blows to the shadowy enemies increased in ferocity and he started to slowly make his way towards the struggling girl.

Ignoring the ache in his chest, Sora crashed through a few Heartless blocking his way and ran towards the horde surrounding Kairi.  The shadows encircling her seemed to sense his persistence, and closed their ranks around her.  Pretty soon, Sora couldn't see her at all.

"Kairi!" he cried, breaking free from the shadowy ranks and running to where he had last seen her.

Before he could get there, a black hole appeared beneath his yellow sneakers, and an instant later, he was plunging into darkness.

~*~*~

Sora moaned, an action that caused him to return to consciousness.  This also brought a wave of pain that hit him like a well-aimed throw with Tidus' Blitzball.  His head was throbbing, and he couldn't see.  Even with his eyes closed, the world seemed to be spinning in large, lazy circles.

Taking a few deep breathes, he waiting for the nausea to pass before opening his eyes, blinking and making an attempt to sit up.  The effort proved too much, and he flopped back down into a…bed?

"Careful Sora," a kind, somewhat familiar voice scolded.  "You should probably wait a minute so your head can clear before trying to sit up like that."

Sora realized his eyes had been squeezed shut from the pain, so he settled on opening them slowly and taking a look around before making another attempt at sitting up.

The light in the room was not so harsh that it hurt his eyes.  There wasn't much in the room, just a dresser, night table and a rocking chair in the corner.  The door he could just barely make out behind a woman sitting in a chair next to his bedside.

Kind brown eyes looked at him with concern.  The few wrinkles that lined her face only seemed to add to the knowledge the woman had about her.  Allowing his vision to adjust to the low lighting a little more, he realized he knew who it was.

"Mindy?  Where's Kairi?"

The woman laughed.  "You were always impatient Sora," she chided.  Mindy had looked after Kairi when the little girl had mysteriously appeared on Destiny Islands so many years before.  To Sora, Mindy was like a second mother, coming in second only after his own…

"She was supposed to be here," Sora said softly.  Drawing his resolve, he succeeded in propping himself up to a sitting position in the bed.

Sighing, Mindy shifter her weight in the chair and looked at him from above the rims of her spectacles.  "She was here.  I never even knew she had left, because I hadn't been home.  When I came home though, I found you, but no Kairi.  Yours friends went looking for her."

"Goofy?  Donald?"  Mindy nodded.  "Are they okay?" Sora asked, fearing they had experienced the same pain he had.

"They are much better then you," Mindy replied.  "But rest up; your friends said they want you ready to leave by tomorrow.  The duck was eager to leave, so eager, in fact, that he was about to march in here and drag you out by your 'spiky head' as he put it."

"Donald is like that," Sora said.  Snuggling back down in the pillows, he watched as Mindy blew out the lamp.  

Turning to him, she smiled.  "Goodnight Sora."  Then she left, closing the door behind her and leaving Sora with his new friend; darkness.

~*~*~

_Sora…_

Sora stirred.

_Sora, can you hear me?  Please Sora, answer me…_

Opening his eyes, Sora saw that he was standing on…air.  He was standing on the middle of what appeared to be a barrier.  To his left, nothing but white, and to his right, everything was black.  The two sides came together to form a perfectly straight line, and he was standing somewhere in the middle.

"Who's there?" he called.  Even though he knew who it was…

_It's me Sora.  _Her voice sounded like it was coming from very far away.  Despite the distance, however, he could still hear the urgency in her voice.

"Where am I?" Sora asked.  He took a step forward and enjoyed the feeling that overcame him.  "_Almost like flying_," he thought.

_We're in the Dream Realm, but I don't have time to explain.  Sora, our hearts have been separated.  I am speaking to you through the last echoes that remain of the bond we had.  That's why we are here, because the bond is too weak to use in the real world._

"Where are you?  Why aren't you here anymore?" Sora demanded.  He tried to seek out the location of her voice, but it seemed to come from all around him.

_The Heartless Sora, they've taken me…I can't...remember what happened…Something is wrong...I...I...can't see your face anymore…It's so dark here…My light, Sora, you're gone!_

Sora heard the panic in her voice and wished he was there to comfort her and tell her that he would protect her.  But he couldn't even do that, because he had no idea where she was.  All he could manage to say was, "Hold on!"

_I can hear your voice…keep talking…bring me back!  I can't find the light without you Sora..._

"Kairi!  Please!  Don't go!"  Sora's panicked tone matched hers now.  He was dreaming, he knew it, but something about this dream seemed all too real.  He was losing her, that was why his heart hurt so badly.  Now he knew why the pain was familiar…Their hearts had only been separated once before…but the pain had been nothing compared to what he had experienced on Destiny Islands…

_Sora, listen carefully.  _He could barely hear her voice now_.  Even though you will no longer be able to hear my voice, please know that I still care, and I will always be with you._

"Kairi, I will find you, I promised you!  Know that I will find you."  A tear rolled down Sora's cheek as he felt her presence leave him.  Drawing out the Keyblade, he played with the keychain dangling from the end.  In the shape of a star, it has a little smiling face engraved on it, the detail of the face surprising for something so small.

"I still have to give you your lucky key chain back," Sora whispered to the nothingness. 

**Author's Endnote:**  _Ah yes, these first two chapters have been filled with lots of dream/Sora unconscious sequences.  This will stop, to any of you who don't like it, and things will start picking up.  I now have the foundations I need for the plot.  As for whoever asked about where Kairi was, this chapter gives hints, but you'll just have to read the story to find out where she really is!_


	3. Broken Boarders

_Disclaime_r:  I still don't own Kingdom Hearts…*sigh* Therefore I cannot be held responsible for the torment I put these characters through…Heh.

_Author's Notes_:  First of all, I apologize for the long delay between updates.  School became really demanding for sometime and I had no time to write any of the fic, let alone post a new chapter.  This chapter was unfinished for so long I was wondering if I would ever get it done.  So, in the future, if there are long periods between updates, it's because other things have come up.  But you can be assured that I will get chapters out as fast as I can.  I am also sorry about that extra line in the previous chapter.  Silly program, it is a tad temper mental and I think it has something against me.  I hope this chapter works out okay…Oh yes, and a big thank you goes out to all those who reviewed chapter 2:

Attagirl, juzlovnsora, Chris the Anime Guy, Angelface04 and khfreak1, Zero the Experiment, Nessiegirl and GaMeBrEaKeR.

**IMPORTANT:** Please read the author's note at the end of this chapter, as it contains some important information about the fic. {I would put it at the top, but it's long enough already and I know you want to get to the fic! ^_^}

Kingdom Hearts II

**Chapter 3 – Broken Boarders**

****

Even though no more dreams haunted Sora's sleep that night, he certainly felt that he had had a restless night the next morning.  The ache in his chest had finally subsided and now, the only feeling he was left with to remember the whole incident was an empty place where Kari's presence had once been, and should have still been.

He splashed some cold water on his face and gazed at his reflection in the small mirror.  His once bright eyes barely shined anymore, and there were bags underneath them to complete the haunted look of his pale complexion.

Sighing inwardly, he tied on his sneakers, and then left the room.  Donald and Goofy were sitting at the kitchen table, heads down, eating their breakfast in silence.  However, they both looked up at him when he walked into the room and Sora tried to smile reassuringly, but failed.

"Are you feeling alright, Sora?" Mindy asked.  She bustled over to him from where she had been cooking and began checking him for any signs of his recent affliction.  

"I'm fine," he replied.  It felt a little weird to have someone fawn over him like he was a child.  He did appreciate it though; it felt nice to be looked after.

"As long as you're sure," she said, clucking her tongue.   "I packed you some supplies for your trip.  Just some basic provisions, like bread, fruit and some dried meats.  Hope fully it will last you long enough to get to wherever it is you're going."  The hint in her tone was unmistakable; she wanted to know where they were going in such a hurry.

"I want to find Kari," Sora explained simply.   "She made me promise to…uhh, give her keychain back."  He had to be careful, because, even though Mindy had a right to know, he did not want to worry her with the fact that Kairi had been taken.

"She can't have gone far, even if she did get her boat to town, then she would probably stay there," Mindy said.  She abruptly turned and continued with the potatoes she had been peeling earlier.  When she spoke again, Sora's heart ached some more, because he could hear the sadness in her tone.  "By the way, Sora, there was a letter addressed to you that I found.  You were holding it when I found you, so I kept it for you while you rested."  She went over to him and gave him the letter.  He could see the tears brimming in her eyes.

"_Maybe she does know the truth_," Sora thought with a pang of regret.  He didn't want Mindy to have to suffer for a promise Sora couldn't keep.

Donald stood up and spoke for the first time.  "We should go now," he said simply, then dragged Goofy off to the boat, along with the basket of supplies.

"Thanks for everything Mindy," Sora said softly.  On an impulse, he walked over and embraced her like he would his own mother.

"Anytime Sora.  Just remember; you'll find her."

~*~*~

As the three companions sped away from the island, Sora never looked back.  To him, there was no point.  He only needed to look forward, because that was where he was headed.

"So, what should we do first?"  Goofy asked.

Donald rolled his eyes.  "We haven't even reached the mainland yet!  Besides, where else can we go?  The walls between worlds are up, remember?  That means to far-distance travelling!"

The boat suddenly jerked to a halt, sending Goofy and Donald flying into Sora.  

"Sora!" Donald yelled.  "What's the big idea?"

Sora quickly untangled himself from the other two and bounded to his feet.  "If we can't get to other world, how come we could get to Destiny Islands?" he demanded.  This caused Donald's jaw to drop and Goofy to scratch his head.

"Well, if we were able to get to another world," Goofy began slowly, "then does that mean the walls are down?"

~*~*~

The rest of the boat ride was carried out in complete silence.  Each of the three friends was trying to think of some way that they could explain everything that had happened in the last 24 hours.  

When they arrived on the mainland, they paid the man munny worth two days of rentals, and a little but extra to quieten his wrath a little. 

"Where to now?" Donald asked wearily.

"We should go look for Kairi…If the walls are down, then the King will most likely be in the same spot," Goofy answered.  He paused, gulped, and then added, "With the heartless."

"Sora, what do you think?" Donald asked softly.

"Let's go find the King," Sora said suddenly, without a second thought.  Goofy and Donald looked at him in puzzlement for a brief second, and then smiled weakly.

"Alright, that's settled then, now all we need to do is find a way out of this place," Donald said.

They looked around the large city and let out a collective sigh, because finding a way out looked to be no easy task.  The widespread city was full of tall buildings, wide roads and an immense variety of shops.  Even though it was dusk and the number of people in the streets had thinned out significantly, come noon the next day it would be crowded and busy.

"Excuse me," Goofy said to a young woman walking by.

"Are you lost?" she asked kindly.  She re-adjusted the bundle in her arms and Sora saw that she was carrying a sleeping infant.

"Could you tell us where we are?  And maybe how to get to…uhm…" Goofy trailed off, unsure as to where exactly they were going.

"Hollow Bastion," Sora filled in instinctively.

"Well, fist off, you are in a place called Seashine City.  Hollow Bastion is east of Traverse Town.  But you can only access both places by Gummi Ship.  If you take the train here to Twilight Town, you should be able to find someone that can help you."

"Where is this train?" Donald asked, finally feeling better about the luck they seemed to be having.

"Follow this road in that direction," she said, pointing behind them, "and turn left onto a road called Trail Street.   Keep following it and you will come to the station."  She glanced up at large clock tower and smiled.  "If you hurry, you can make the eight o'clock train!"

"Thanks for your help," Sora said.

She smiled at them, adjusted her bundle once more, then continued on her way.

~*~*~

"Are we too late for the eight o'clock train to Twilight Town?" Sora asked the man in the ticket booth.  The man glanced at his wrist watch, and then shook his head.

"Nah, you should be able to make it.  How many tickets do you want?" the man asked. 

Sora heaved a sigh of relief and paid for three tickets.  Dragging Goofy and Donald with him, he ran through the gate and out onto the loading deck. 

The train was about 10 cars long and painted bright yellow.  The three friends boarded the 4th car, took their seats and anxiously waited for the train to leave.

"Sora, why did you tell that woman we wanted to go to Hollow Bastion?" Donald demanded.

"That's where Ansem was last time," Sora began, "and even if we can't find anything there, at least we can speak to the princesses and get their help."

"Good idea Sora," Goofy said.  He was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the sudden rumbling that announced the train was leaving.

The three of them peered out the windows and watched the landscape roll by in the dying sunlight.  Pretty soon, they left the busy streets of Seashine City and were now travelling through rolling hills and wooded areas.  

Gazing out at the horizon, Sora watched the last rays of sunlight fall into darkness and started looking for stars.  For a second, Sora was sure he could see something near the train tracks up ahead, but he shook his head and decided he was just being paranoid.

All of a sudden, the train lurched to a halt, sending the companions tumbling from their seats.  Before anyone could say anything, the lights went out and they were left in complete darkness.

"What's going on?" Goofy asked, getting up off the floor of the train car.

"I don't-"

"Shhh," Sora cut Donald off with a wave of his hand.  The three of them listened in silence as they heard thuds, shouts and screams from further up the train.  All around them, too, they could hear strange noises…that sounded all too familiar…

"Heartless!" Donald cried as the first one materialized up from the floor.

Sora summoned the Keyblade and almost instantly was surrounded by the little black, bug-eyed creatures.  Swinging his Keyblade around, he got rid of several, them jumped back to avoid another one, that had just appeared from beneath his feet.

Glancing back, he saw Donald and Goofy easily disposing of the Heartless with their respective weapons.  Sora rolled to the side as best he could, but was having difficulty fighting off all the heartless inside of the train car.  Spotting the door, he made a run for it and ran out onto the field the train had stopped next to.

Instantly, he was surrounded by a number of Heartless, so many that he could not count them.  One by one he got rid of them by swinging the key shaped blade.  Goofy and Donald joined him outside and together, the three of them did their best to keep the Heartless at bay.

A million questions were running through Sora's mind and he was finding it increasingly more difficult to concentrate.  After narrowly avoiding the claws of one Heartless, he was too distracted and did not avoid the hit of another.  

The Heartless struck him behind the knee and the impact was enough to send Sora to his knees.   All of the Heartless remaining took this opportunity and lunged towards Sora.

Goofy and Donald tried to break through the mass of black creatures, but were unable to reach Sora.  As Sora fought desperately to free his sword arm, he realized he was in total darkness, since there were so many Heartless surrounding him.

Suddenly, Sora's Keyblade began to glow with a bright blue light.  The Heartless screamed and fell back, allowing Sora to get up off the ground, where he had been pinned.  

Growing in intensity, the light enveloped Sora, Goofy and Donald in a protective dome that demolished any Heartless it touched.  It slowly expanded and within a few minutes had destroyed all the Heartless in the area.

The light faded, leaving the Oathkeeper keychain glimmering slightly.  It blinked weakly a few times, and then went out.

**Author's Endnote:  **_ I figured that was a good place to end it!  At least I didn't really leave a cliff-hanger…Anyways, this chapter was a long one, so I hope no one got annoyed or anything…I don't have any particular length set for chapters, so expect some long ones, and maybe some shorter ones in the future.  Oh yes, now, about the things I wanted to say;_

_First off, a lot of you have made comments about how unfortunate it is for Sora that he always gets into these kinds of dark situations.  This fic is set about one year after the game, so Sora is about 15/16 years old.  That means angsty stuff…It will be a rough ride, but I am hoping he will come out alright in the end…Actually, I think he may have to…which leads me to my next point._

_I was playing the game yesterday and thinking about fics I have written in the past and I came up with a sequel to this one.  Crazy, I know.  The plus side of this is that it will KIND OF involve Kairi and Sora travelling together…which would be nice.  Let me know if you are interested and I will get some stuff down so I can start it as soon as I am done this one!_

_REVIEW! :D_


	4. To All Readers

Hey everyone! Wow, certainly has been awhile, but things have been really nuts since I last updated. I am writing this though because I have something to say! Yay. Uhh, I am starting my Kingdom Hearts fic back up again. It will be under a new title though, so look for it within the next few days or so. Thank to everyone who reviewed my old story and I hope you will take interest in my newer one (which is hopefully going to be much better...) Ciao!

Galea


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